In recent years, accessories such as broaches have been designed to evoke the aesthetic sense of the accessory body to add to the impression of value brought about by diamonds or pearls. In a fastener for attaching the accessory body to an article of clothing, it is required that the fastener have a construction which excels in at least functionality in order to improve its fastening capability.
Three types of fasteners will now be described as typical examples.
FIG. 1A is a side view showing the construction of a broach according to a first example of the prior art, FIGS. 1B-1D are side views showing the manipulating procedure according to the first example of the prior art, FIG. 2A is a front view showing the construction of a principal portion of a broach according to a second example of the prior art, and FIGS. 2B-2D are front views showing the manipulating procedure according to the second example of the prior art.
As illustrated in FIG. 1A, the first example of the prior art is exemplified by a broach 1 in which a fastener 3, which has the construction and function of a safety pin, is attached to the bottom portion 2a of a main body 2. The safety pin-type fastener 3 is constructed in such a manner that one end 5b of a pin 5 is wound about a shaft 4 to form a spring, while the other, free end 5a of the pin is biased in a direction, which is indicated by arrow D1, against a force from the direction indicated by arrow U1. When the broach is not being used or has been attached, the other end 5a is received in an accommodating portion 3c formed into a frame-shaped configuration. Part of the accommodating portion 3c includes a freeing portion composed of a tongue portion 3a and a tongue portion 3b in order that the pin 5 may be taken in and out.
As for the method of manipulating the first example of the prior art, the user first applies a force to the pin 5 in the direction of arrow U1 starting from the state of the broach shown in FIG. 1A to urge the pin upward to the positions of the tongue portions 3a, 3b (FIG. 1B). Owing to this external force, the pin 5 produces a biasing force in the direction of arrow D1. Next, with the broach in the state shown in FIG. 1B, the user passes the free end 5a through the tongue portions 3a, 3b and removes the force in the direction of arrow U1 when the free end 5a emerges from between the tongue portions. The state of the pin shown in FIG. 1C is thus obtained. The user then passes the pin 5 through a garment 6 at a desired position thereof, after which the free end 5a is placed in the pin accommodating portion 3c in accordance with a procedure which is the reverse of that followed when the free end 5a of the pin 5 was extracted from the pin accommodating portion 3c.
In this first example of the prior art, the free end 5a is extracted from the pin accommodating portion 3c (FIG. 1C) and the pin 5 is passed through the garment 6 (FIG. 1D), after which the free end 5a is again urged upward toward the main body 2 to obtain the accommodated state of the free end 5a illustrated in FIG. 1A. Such manipulation is troublesome for the user to perform. More specifically, operations for extracting and accommodating the free end 5a are performed for a single fastening operation, and thus poor functionality resulting from these two tasks is conspicuous. Of course, the same troublesome-operations are performed also when the broach 1 is detached from the garment 6.
As illustrated in FIG. 2A, the second example of the prior art is exemplified by a broach 11. As in the first example of the prior art, a fastener 13, which has the construction and function of a safety pin, is attached to the bottom portion 12a of a main body 12. As in the first example of the prior art, the safety pin-type fastener 13 is constructed in such a manner that one end 15b of a pin 15 is wound about a shaft 14 to form a spring, while the other, free end 15a of the pin is biased in a direction, which is indicated by arrow D2, against a force from the direction indicated by arrow U2. When the broach is not being used or has been attached, the free end 15a is received in a pin accommodating portion comprising a disk-shaped stationary portion 16 provided on the distal end of a support 18, and a disk-shaped loose-fitting portion 17 which covers the surface of the stationary portion 16 and retains the stationary portion in a loosely fitted state. The loose-fitting portion 17 has a knob 17a projecting from a side face thereof. The user presses a finger against the knob 17a so that the loose-fitting portion 17 can be rotated on the surface of the stationary portion 16 in the direction indicated by arrow R1 (as well as in a direction opposite this arrow). When the loose-fitting portion 17 is rotated, openings 17b, 16b respectively provided on the loose-fitting portion 17 and stationary portion 16 can be made to coincide, as will be described later, so that the free end 15 of the pin 15 can be taken out along the openings 17b, 16b.
As for the method of manipulating the second example of the prior art, the user first rotates the loose-fitting portion 17 in the direction of arrow R1 starting from the state shown in FIG. 2A, and brings the opening 17b of loose-fitting portion 17 and the opening 16b of stationary portion 16 into coincidence to obtain a pin extracting space 19 (FIG. 2B) for extracting the free end 15a. In this operation, the user holds the main body 12 with one hand while using the other hand to perform the manipulations that obtain the pin extracting space 19. The user then urges the free end 15a upward in the direction of arrow U2 and removes the force applied in the direction of arrow U2 when the free end is extracted from the openings 16b, 17b. The state of the free end 15a shown in FIG. 2C can thus be obtained. The user then passes the pin 15 through a garment 20 at a desired position thereof, after which the free end 15a is placed in the pin accommodating portion in accordance with a procedure which is the reverse of that followed when the free end 15a of the pin 15 was extracted from the pin accommodating portion.
Thus, with the second example of the prior art, it is required that both hands be used to attach and detach the broach. If a hand-held bag is being carried when the broach is attached or detached, the bag must be put down temporarily. This is troublesome.
In order to eliminate the aforementioned operation-related annoyances of the first and second examples of the prior art, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 44-3926 (hereinafter referred to as the "third example of the prior art"), which was filed in Japan on Nov. 24, 1964, discloses a clasp having an arrangement in which the rear ends of a base piece having a pin and of a base piece serving as a main body are connected in such a manner that the distal ends of both base pieces are directly mutually inward using the elastic force of a spring. In accordance with this disclosure, the biasing direction of the spring is directed toward the base piece on the main-body side opposite the biasing direction of the pins described in the first and second examples of the prior art. This is advantageous in that after passing the pin through the garment, the user need only remove the force holding the pin open. However, the base piece on the main-body side that receives the distal end of the pin is provided with a projection having a V-shaped notch, and the distal end of the pin is received by the notch. Consequently, it is possible that the garment through which the pin has been passed will readily reach the tip of the pin, and this can cause the tip of the pin to easily become detached from the projection.
Accordingly, in the third example of the prior art, the arrangement for reliably holding the ornament in the fastened state is deficient.